Advocates Announce Pokey, Schleppie Awards For Bad Bus Service

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Transit advocates are honoring, or at least recognizing, the slowest and least reliable bus lines in the city.

As WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported, the Straphangers Campaign on Tuesday announced the Pokey and Schleppie awards. The first is for the slowest bus, the second for the bus with the least reliable service.

The winner of the Pokey Award is the M42, which runs crosstown on 42nd Street. Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said the average speed is 3.2 mph.

“The M42 moves slower than the pace at which a chicken can run, which is 9 miles per hour,” Russianoff said.

The Straphangers Campaign’s Jaqi Cohen said the Schleppie goes to the B12, which runs on Parkside, Clarkson, Albany, and East New York avenues in Brooklyn. The problem is bunching.

The slowest bus in the city is the M42, the least reliable, the B12. This according to @Straphangers, which has released its Pokey (as in slow poke) and Schleppie Awards. The M42 averages 3.2mph, slower than a chicken runs. (Chickens run?) @wcbs880pic.twitter.com/vZ20yfDJ9a

“It's the phenomenon of when you wait forever for a bus to show up and two to three show up at the same time,” Cohen said.

She said the city needs to do more to clear dedicated bus lanes.

The slowest buses in the city, according to @Straphangers, M42, M14D, M66, M14A, M102. The M42 receives the Pokey Award (as in slow poke) averaging 3.2mph. The least reliable line (Schleppie Award) goes to the B12 in Brooklyn. @wcbs880pic.twitter.com/TNsJq1fK6K